In 2010 Yosef Peretz was named to the Northern California Super Lawyers

Verdicts & Settlements

Peretz & Associates has earned successful results for hundreds of clients through trials, settlement and administrative hearings. While many settlement agreements require the amount paid to be confidential, the following results are representative of our cases.

EMPLOYMENT

$5,500,000 SETTLEMENT, wage and hour class action (2009). Drivers of White Cap Construction Supply, a company owned by Home Depot, were consistently being denied their overtime wages and meal breaks. The case settled only after we aggressively advocated for the class through a long fought battle that eventually resulted in class certification by the San Francisco Superior Court. The parties reached settlement shortly after class certification.

Undisclosed SETTLEMENT, defamation, breach of contract and wages (2009). A high-profile technology company and its CEO engaged in a public disparagement campaign against their founder and former CEO and breached the conditions of his separation agreement. The parties reached a favorable settlement after Peretz & Associates successfully defeated an Anti-SLAPP motion in the early stages of litigation.

$1,250,000 SETTLEMENT, wage and hour class action (2009). The hourly employees for Boudin Bakeries, a nationally known bakery based in San Francisco, were being denied their meal and rest breaks. The parties reach settlement prior to class certification.

$700,000 SETTLEMENT, age, race and gender discrimination (2010). A female, African-American, employee over the age of 40 was discriminated against by her employer, a high-profile investment banking firm. The employee suffered unequal pay, ongoing discrimination and wrongful termination based on her protected status. The parties reached settlement in early litigation.

$500,000+ SETTLEMENT, gender discrimination (2007). A female employee was discriminated against and suffered adverse employment action by her employer, a high-profile investment banking firm. The parties reached a settlement pre-litigation.

$500,000+ SETTLEMENT, national and religious discrimination (2009). Two Yemenite Muslim employees were wrongfully terminated because of national origin and religious bias by their supervisor. The parties reached a settlement shortly before arbitration and received an arbitration award at attorneys' fees.

$400,000 SETTLEMENT, wage and hour and retaliation (2011). An employee that was persistently denied overtime wages and was retaliated against by the employer when he complained about not being paid. After a series of incidents of harassment and retaliation, the employer baselessly alleged malfeasance by our client and wrongfully terminated him. The case settled on the eve of arbitration.

$325,000 SETTLEMENT, race discrimination (2009). A female African-American employee was terminated from her job as a health care provider because of racial bias on the part of her supervisor. The parties reached settlement after Peretz & Associates successfully defeated a motion for summary judgment filed by the employer.

$250,000 SETTLEMENT, pregnancy discrimination (2011). A female employee experience from retaliation by her supervisors and was constructively terminated upon returning to work after a maternity leave. The retaliation included increased monitoring by her supervisors, diminished performance evaluations despite being a top performer, and denial of requests for medical leave.

$180,000 SETTLEMENT, age and race discrimination (2011). A male African-American employee was terminated from his job after a campaign by his supervisors to force him to quit by demoting our client and forcing him to work under an abusive supervisor.

$125,000 SETTLEMENT, breach of employment contract (2005). An attorney-employee was denied bonus payout pursuant to her employment agreement with a law firm. The parties reached settlement pre-litigation.

$100,000 SETTLEMENT, pregnancy discrimination (2010). A pregnant, female employee was discriminated against and suffered adverse employment action by her employer, a Fortune 500 credit company, after she announced her pregnancy. The parties reached settlement pre-litigation.

BUSINESS AND CONTRACT

$800,000 JURY VERDICT, business dispute and defamation. Alameda County Superior Court, Silmi v. Ahmed (2010). Our client Amjad Silmi entered into a commercial lease agreement with Izzuddin Ahmed, which would allow Silmi to operate a check cashing business on the premises where Ahmed owned and operated a supermarket named “International Food King”. Silmi was allowed to occupy the portion of the supermarket where a check cashing booth was constructed in exchange for monthly rent.

In 2005, Silmi discovered that Ahmed and his brother had been stealing money from Silmi’s business. Shortly after he confronted Ahmed, Ahmed asserted that he actually owned Silmi’s business and thereafter attempted to sell the business to a third party. The International Food King property was owned by our client Alex Preiger.

Ahmed did not advise Preiger that he sublet the check cashing to Silmi or that he sold his business to a third party. Preiger brought an eviction lawsuit against Ahmed; Simi sued Ahmed for breach of contract and conversion. In response, Ahmed filed outlandish cross-complaints against Preiger and Silmi for interference with business relations, conversion, breach of contract and defamation, claiming that he is the owner of the check cashing and that they conspired to force him out of his business.

After a highly complex six-week jury trial in which Ahmed and his brother sought over $3,600,000 in actual damages alone, the jury decided in favor of our clients, Silmi and Preiger, on all causes of actions, gave Ahmed nothing, and awarded approximately $150,000 in damages, punitive damages, attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation.

LANDLORD-TENANT

$600,000+ SETTLEMENT, wrongful eviction and negligence (2007). Multiple tenants were forcibly evicted because of a fire caused by the landlord’s negligence. After extensive litigation, the parties settled on the eve of trial.

$400,000 SETTLEMENT, wrongful eviction, fraud (2009). Long-term tenants were evicted from their home of over twenty years when the landlord/owners evicted them under the owner move-in provisions of the San Francisco Rent Ordinance. Peretz & Associates successfully defeated an Anti-SLAPP motion and a motion for summary judgment before obtaining a favorable settlement.

$325,000 SETTLEMENT, wrongful eviction (2008). Long-term tenants were unlawfully evicted from their home, at a SRO housing, when landlords forged service on the eviction notice and the unlawful detainer action. The parties settled, after a four-week jury trial and on the day before the jury began their deliberations.

$200,000 SETTLEMENT, wrongful eviction, gender and sexual orientation discrimination (2009). A female and a homosexual tenant were wrongfully evicted from their highly-desirable, rent-controlled unit because of landlords and property managers’ sexual orientation and gender bias. The parties settled after the completion of discovery.

$200,000 SETTLEMENT, tenant’s harassment and habitability defects (2009). A long-term mentally disabled tenant was harassed by her landlord which is one of the most prominent religious institutions. The tenant’s unit was in a dilapidated state after years of neglect. The parties settled the case after Peretz & Associates prevailed on a motion that allowed the tenant to seek punitive damages against the defendant.

$125,000 SETTLEMENT, wrongful termination and wrongful eviction (2006). An employee and tenant of a recognizable religious non-profit was terminated and evicted from her apartment when she sustained a disability that required her to take medication. The parties reached settlement after Peretz & Associates successfully amended the complaint to include claims for punitive damages.

$100,000+ SETTLEMENT, wrongful eviction and breach of contract (2010). Tenants in a condominium determined that the unit had been fraudulent converted to a condominium to avoid the restrictions of the San Francisco Rent Ordinance. Upon attempted eviction by landlords, tenants sued for wrongful eviction and unlawful contract based on the fraudulent conversion. The parties settled before trial after Peretz && Associates succeeded on an Anti-SLAPP motion and the court dismissed the landlord’s retaliatory cross-complaint.

DEFENSE JURY VERDICT, unlawful detainer. San Francisco Superior Court, Freedom West Homes, Inc. v. Rimma Borokhov (2010). A landlord attempted to evict Borokhov on the alleged basis that her husband assaulted an employee of the landlord. This alleged assault consist of passing a fiberglass siding piece over a fence of the patio on the unit that purportedly touched the employee on the back side of her leg. Peretz & Associates defended the case by asserting that no assault was committed and that the landlord’s intention for seeking to evict Borokhov was retaliatory and discriminatory based on her status national origin. After a lengthy jury trial, the jury decided in favor of Borokhov and awarded her possession of the property as well as attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation in the amount of $85,000.

ELDER ABUSE

$165,000 SETTLEMENT, physical elder abuse and negligence (2009). A female, 86 year old who suffered from Alzheimer Syndrome was physically abused by her nursing care facility when they broke her arm and failed to treat her. The parties settled at the close of discovery and weeks before trial.